Chelsea and Manchester City have lodged bids for Lionel Messi

Posted Thursday, November 16, 2017 by Express.co.uk

Chelsea and Manchester City have lodged bids for Lionel Messi
Chelsea and Manchester City are reportedly after Lionel Messi

CHELSEA and Manchester City have both tabled offers for Barcelona star Lionel Messi, according to Spanish football expert Eduardo Inda.

Lionel Messi is said to have been unsettled at Barcelona in recent months and is yet to agree a new deal with the club.

His current contract expires in the summer and he is yet to put pen to paper on a supposed "lifetime deal" which is in the pipeline.

Spanish journalist Eduardo Inda has claimed the 30-year-old has been unsettled by the recent unrest in Catalonia and has weighed up a move to China.

And while on Spanish TV show El Chiringuito de Jugones, Inda also revealed Chelsea and Manchester City have lodged bids for the Argentina international.

"A few months ago Messi was a little down and was thinking seriously before the World Cup in Russia to go to China," Inda said.

"They tell me that he would have received offers of 150 million euros per season [134m].

"Despite this, his intention is to stay, although he has three offers in case he decides to leave the Barca team.

"City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain all love him."

However, it would seem Messi has turned down the opportunity of a move to the Premier League.

La Liga president Javier Tebas claimed this week the Argentine has put pen to paper on a new deal with Barca, despite the club not announcing it.

"Messi has a contract which has been renewed," Tebas told reporters.

"Contracts are official when they are signed and not when it is announced that they have been signed.

"Messi has signed with Barcelona, if I have not been lied to, he has signed."

Talk of Messi's new contract dates back to October when Barca CEO Oscar Grau claimed the La Liga club would offer him a new lifetime deal

"The club will offer him a lifetime contract. The idea is for Leo, who has been here since he was little, to stay here for life as he is an icon," he said.